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Johnstown-Monroe

SCHOOL DISTRICT

Parent Mentors

Parent Mentors
The role of the parent mentor is to guide families through the special education process. This process includes clarifying parents’ rights and responsibilities; to provide information and resources to families and school personnel on education laws, district programs and services and community resources. A parent mentor can attend Individual Education Program meetings and other meetings at the request of the parent and/or school staff to build collaborative partnerships between families, schools and community agencies for the purpose of benefiting students with disabilities. The Parent Mentor is free to all families.

The Parent mentor for Johnstown Monroe is Allison Riley. She can be contacted at [email protected] or by calling 740-349-1630 extension 3026.

Parent Advocates
Special education advocates assist parents with understanding and participating in the special education process. You may choose to have a special education advocate work in an advisory role for you behind the scenes, or you may choose to have the advocate be much more involved in obtaining, maintaining, and monitoring your child’s special education services.  A special education advocate typically works directly with an attorney and charges a fee for their services. A special education advocate should:

  • Know the federal and state laws pertaining to special education services and should know policies and procedures used in the school district.
  • Be familiar with different kinds of assessments and reports, be able to explain and recommend assessments that might be helpful.
  • Able to review and explain your child’s education records, including evaluations and testing, Individualized Education Program and progress reports.
  • Know about services and supports which may be helpful to your child’s special education program.
  • Familiar with appropriate goals, objectives, supports and accommodations.
  • Able to accompany a parent to meetings and assist in negotiating between the school and the parent.
  • Help draft letters and written responses to the school.
  • Able to refer you to a special education attorney if needed.